REBOUND ✔️

🥥 forty eight

tw; mentions of cancer and death

"hey hyunjin... you didn't answer... again. you know, just because dad sent you away, doesn't mean you can't talk to your little sister anymore. anyways, i wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing. how is it over there? have you tried a burger yet? i heard they're really nice, let me know how it tastes when you call me."

"hey hyunjin, checking up on you again. are you getting my messages? have you changed your number? i hope not. please call me."

"hi big bro, i hope you've been eating properly. how is the school over there? i heard you can wear your own clothes to school there. that's so cool, i wanna go to america. i hope dad lets you visit, or i can come visit you. i miss you, please call me back."

"it's been six months and you still don't answer. have you changed your number? or are you just ignoring me? mum and dad don't even mention you anymore, and they replaced the family photo with just the three of us. it's like they just erased you from the family. i want you to know that i don't blame you for what happened. everyone at school doesn't even talk about it anymore. you will never stop being my big brother."

he stared down at the phone, tears spilling from his eyes as he wasn't able to hold them in anymore. all his emotions had built up over the past months that he had been away and now it was all crashing to the ground, the wall he built around them crumbling to pieces. his tears started falling on the phone screen, slowly gliding across it, pulled downwards by gravity. "i'm sorry," he said in such a timid voice that he could barely even hear hiself.

"i'm sorry."

minho stared intensely at the male in front of him, not taking his eyes away from him for a second. he had sat there like this for hours now, the sun having now set, leaving behind a deep black sky. no stars could be seen through the thick cloud that obstructed them, but they didn't let out a wink of rain. it was like they had dried out, but still couldn't leave the people below alone on such a somber day.

jeongin sat on the opposite side of the bed, snuggled into the side of the chair while his soft snores filled the room. minho couldn't blame him for falling asleep; he was in such a panic when they found him that he was surprised the male hadn't gone into shock. the older was surprised himself that he hadn't fallen asleep as well, but he knew he couldn't; he was not going to leave hyunjin's side.

he was not going to make the same mistake again.

the door suddenly burst open, revealing a distressed seungmin who stared at hyunjin with such a look of horror, you would have thought that he saw a ghost. for seungmin, it was like deja vu; this wasn't the first time he'd seen hyunjin in this condition, but it still shocked him nonetheless. the loud arrival had also woken up jeongin, fluttering his eyes open slightly to spectate the visitor.

"who's that?" he said groggily, letting out a short yawn as he stretched his arms into the air, trying to wake himself up again, despite being asleep for only an hour.

"that's seungmin, he's a good friend of hyunjin's," minho explained, earning a nod from the younger as he snuggled back into the chair, but he did his best to not sleep this time. seungmin took slow steps towards hyunjin, and minho could tell he was going to break down. before he reached the end of the hospital bed, minho stood to catch seungmin, holding him as he broke down in his arms.

"i'm sorry hyunjin, i'm so sorry i didn't help you. i knew, and i did nothing. i'm sorry," he cried out between sobs, soon being calmed by minho soft whispers and his tight embrace. the two went to sit down, jeongin now fully awake as he stared at his roommate, hooked up to IV lines and oxygen to help him breathe in his vegetative state.

the youngest male sighed, doing his best to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. "i was too caught up in my own problems that i didn't even notice anything was wrong," he said in a quiet voice, his voice muffled by the fact that his face was pressed against his knees, his legs hugged tightly to his body. "i didn't even ask how he was doing, not once. i only ranted about my own problems, and i ignored his."

minho gazed at hyunjin's pale face. even in this state, he couldn't help but smile at the younger. he had opened the male's eyes to a lot over recent months, and minho had to admit that he didn't know what he would have done or what he would have become if he hadn't met the blonde male. he hated to think that if he lost hyunjin, his life would crumble and he would go back to being the person he was.

he cleared his throat before speaking up. "when my sister was six, and i was sixteen, she was diagnosed with this rare form of lung cancer. it was so unexpected, and i didn't know how to deal with it. i remember one night, i was crying, so she came and comforted me. she said, "crying is bad, because you think of all the bad things that could happen. you should smile instead, and remember all the good times." she was always so much stronger than me."

minho paused, taking a deep breath to stop himself from breaking. "so we need to be strong for hyunjin. we can't think about all the things we didn't do and regret the things we did. we can only change and learn from it, and do better in the future. this time, i won't leave hyunjin's side," he finally declared, his hand reaching over to hyunjin to hold onto his cold one. in his mind, he promised hyunjin; he promised he would never leave, he would never discard him, and he would never let him go, for as long as he lived.

for two weeks, minho barely left the hospital, the only times being to shower and get a fresh set of clothes for the next few days ahead. even then, he did his best to not be gon longer than an hour; he didn't want hyunjin to wake up if he wasn't there to greet him, if he even was going to wake up. the doctors had said it could take weeks, but minho was beginning to grow impatient, and the small negative thoughts in the back of his mind seemed to be growing more and more every day.

he sat once again at hyunjin's bedside, holding onto his hand firmly. his dark roots had begun to appear past his bleached blonde hair, the sunken bags under his eyes not doing his good looks any justice. minho could feel his eyes start to water at the sight, pulling the younger's hand up to place a kiss on the top side of it, holding it again between his two hands. "please wake up," he whispered to no one in particular, anyone that could answer his prayers.

he heard someone clear their throat, looking up to see seungmin holding two cups in his hands. "i brought you some hot chocolate. one of the nurses said the cafe downstairs makes really good hot chocolate, so i thought we could test that theory," he said, a small smile adorning his face. much like minho, seungmin hadn't left hyunjin's side the whole time he was here, his overwhelming guilt of running away instead of intervening when he found out was enough to make him dedicate himself to hyunjin's recovery.

minho mumbled a small "thank you", taking the cup from seungmin's grasp as the younger sat down beside the older. they were both silent for a while, not having much more to say after the two weeks they had both sat there together. it was a comfortable silence, and as much as they both wanted hyunjin to jump up from his bed and make a ruckus, they enjoyed the calmness.

that was until lee felix came bursting through the door, with someone minho was dreading to see again trailing behind him.

jisung.

—
ok i know i said tuesday but
i had to cover shifts at work

how is everyone doing today?